Momijiba no mina kurenai ni chirishikeba na nomi narikeri Shirakawa no seki - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

紅葉葉のみな紅に散りしけば
名のみなりけり白川の関

Roma-ji: Momijiba no mina kurenai ni chirishikeba na nomi narikeri Shirakawa no seki
English Translation: The autumn leaves
have scattered all in crimson,
spread across the ground:
"white" is but a name for it,
the barrier of Shirakawa
Meaning: Since the autumn leaves lie scattered all in crimson, the "white" of the Shirakawa barrier is a name and nothing more.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems II 364

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the topic 'Falling Leaves on the Road Through the Barrier' at the courtiers' poetry contest at the Hōjūji Palace in the second year of Kaō"
Since the autumn leaves lie scattered all in crimson, the poet says, the "white" in the name of the Shirakawa barrier has become a name only. Through the contrast between the "white" of the place name and the "crimson" of the leaves, he conveys the brilliance of the fallen leaves covering the road through the barrier.
The author, "Sadaiben Chikamune," is Taira no Chikamune, son of Taira no Tokinobu and younger brother of Kenshunmon'in Shigeko, consort of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa. He later rose to Middle Counselor.
Composed on the topic "Falling Leaves on the Road Through the Barrier" at the courtiers' poetry contest held in the second year of Kaō (1170) at the Hōjūji Palace of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa. It is the fourth of a run of five poems, 361 through 365, on this topic, which sing of barriers in many places: Suma, Kiyomigata, Ōsaka and Shirakawa.
Ever since the monk Nōin's Goshūi Wakashū poem, "I left the capital together with the spring haze, yet the autumn wind blows at the Shirakawa barrier," the Shirakawa barrier had been sung as a place far removed from the capital.

First line, "momijiba no": giving the subject.
Second line, "mina kurenai ni": "all in crimson," in contrast to the "white" of the place name in the last line.
Third line, "chirishikeba": "chirishiku" is to fall and cover the ground, and "ba" gives the reason. It shares the verb with "momiji chirishiku" in the fourth line of the next poem, 365.
Fourth line, "na nomi narikeri": "it was a name only," with "keri" expressing realization. The poem pauses here.
Fifth line, "Shirakawa no seki": the poem ends on a noun. A barrier in Mutsu whose name contains "white," set against "crimson" in the second line. The next poem, 365, has the same last line.
Author: Taira no Chikamune
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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